THE STRATEGY

Just like you, everyone out there is studying 10hrs a day. But what makes a difference is your strategy.

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QUICK TIPS:

1. Finish your syllabus thoroughly as soon as possible. (lays the foundation)
2. Make sure you are strong in basics, no need to waste time in advanced topics, just adhere to the syllabus (most important)
3. Practice previous years’ GATE questions and good online test series. (improves your understanding of concepts. I joined a couple of test series and did previous years’ papers).
4. Sleep for 8hrs/day. (helps rejuvenate your mind)
5. Be regular in your studies. Study for neither 15hrs nor 0hrs in a day. Don’t exhaust yourself too much in a day that you end up taking leaves for next 2 days.
6. Do the right things and do them right; throw away the unnecessary things from your life (I left Fb, WA) and embrace the right ones (health , family, discipline).

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MY STORY MY WORDS:

I came back to my native, Delhi, on September 11, 2015. I spent 4-5 days gathering the notes and formulating the strategy. I didn’t join any classroom coaching for I was too late to be admitted to any batch of any leading Gate Coaching institutes. (Though I was recently enlightened that THERE ARE some batches which accept a latecomer like me.)  I was also clear that regularity is not an issue with me. I made a long-term goal, monthly goals, and daily goals.

If you have slightest of the slightest doubt on your concepts, please join a coaching institute. Or if you believe you can perform better after joining it, please go ahead and enroll yourself in a classroom coaching program.

In the exam, your hard work and self-study will help you the most. But, never let yourself feel the guilt of not joining a coaching institute. Let me annotate it with a quote:

“Guilt is to the spirit, what pain is to the body”          – Elder David A. Bednar

LONG-TERM GOAL:

GATE RANK 1 (I had even set daily reminder for this. :D)

MONTHLY GOALS:

I slept 8hrs/day and studied neither more than 10hrs nor less than 6hrs in a day. Be regular! There isn’t a single day when I studied too much or too less. Not more than 10hrs and not less than 6hrs.

Mid-September – October 31 – Finish the GATE syllabus.

I had paid attention to my academics during B.Tech, so I was pretty confident on my concepts and fortunately, I had the lecture notes with me. I referred those notes, NPTEL lectures, and some free lectures available online. By the first week of November, I was able to finish my syllabus thoroughly.
I was able to finish the syllabus in such a short time, only because my University (Delhi Technological University (formerly DCE)) teachers taught me very well and I paid attention to what they taught that time. Moreover, I appeared for GATE in 2015 also, prepared for 1 month but was not able to secure a rank under 100. That time, I bagged 450 rank. So, I was in touch with the concepts.

MOST IMPORTANT – Revisions. Keep revising periodically whatever you have learned. E.g. if I learn something today, I’ll revisit it after a week, then after 15 days and then once in a month. In the last month of my preparation, I revised everything on a weekly basis. This is how I distributed my time:

General Aptitude – 5 questions daily.
# – keep a margin of 2/3 days for some unwanted events.
* – It doesn’t mean simply taking the test. Instead, take the test – analyze it – identify your weaknesses and work on them.

Nov 3 – Nov 30 – Practice previous year questions, topic-wise (twice if possible) and take tests.

On the first day of this period, I took a “FULL” test to check my understanding. Obviously, I didn’t perform exceptionally well, I was able to score 57 marks. From there, I started improving. Daily, I took 1 online test [subject-wise] , followed by its analysis and then a WRITTEN correction of my mistakes and rectification of approach. I also practiced previous year GATE questions topic-wise daily.
This period helped me identify areas of improvement and involuntarily skipped topics.

Dec 1 – Dec 31 – Practice + Revision

• 1^st week : Revision + 1 Full test*
• 2^nd week: 2 online subject tests* (daily) + 1 FULL test*
• 3^rd & 4^th weeks: Online tests* [subject-wise] + 2 FULL test* + Previous year GATE papers ( with corrections)

During this phase, I tried to improve my speed. I tried to solve the ‘full syllabus’ test in 2 and a half hours so that in the remaining half an hour I can go through it again.
This literally helped me during my GATE exam. I finished the exam in 2 hours and 40 minutes and identified my silly mistakes in remaining 20 minutes which saved me 3.33 MARKS (IMAGINE!).

Jan 1 – Feb 5 – REVISIONS + MOCK TESTS.

I ate healthy to make sure I don’t fall ill in the peak period. NO JUNK! NO PIZZA! NO CHEESE!
Revisions also included revisiting my mistakes again and again so that I don’t repeat them in FINAL EXAM.

• 1^st week – Revision + I solved GATE Previous year papers again and did written corrections for my mistakes + 1 MOCK test*.
• 2^nd week – 3 online subject tests daily with corrections + 1 MOCK TEST*
• 3^rd week – Revision + 2 MOCK TEST*
• 4^th week – Previous year GATE papers once again (with corrections): 3 papers daily + 2 mock tests.
• Remaining days – Revision!
• Feb 5 – RELAX!!

I practiced GATE previous year papers more than 4 times each. This practice and the Online test series made me feel at home during the examination. I took more than 100 tests during my preparation. I found explanations provided for GATE questions on GATEoverflow & GeeksForGeeks very useful. Moreover, I used “handbook of CS” published by MADE EASY for quick revision in final days of my preparation. I found it good and precise.

ONLINE TEST SERIES:

Practice played a vital role in my success. I had joined online test series of MADE EASY and ACE. I suggest gate aspirants enroll in multiple test series so that you can encounter a lot of questions without over-fitting the data. For more information on these test series, read this.

STUDY-MATERIAL/BOOKS/NOTES

I referred my class notes which were prepared from standard books. As I had a little time, I skipped going through the books all over again. Instead, I used my notes, NPTEL lectures, and some random free online lectures.

You can refer the books suggested here.

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Free Online Resources which were very helpful:

• NPTEL lectures.
• GeeksForGeeks / GeeksQuiz
• GateOverflow / GATECSE
• RavindraBabu Ravula’s FREE lectures.
• http://www.engineering.careers360.com/articles/gate-2015-topper-interview-ravi-shankar-mishra-air-1-in-computer-science-engineering

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To all GATE aspirants, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE your ability to succeed. Remember to LEARN, TEST, ANALYZE & IMPROVE. All the very best!!

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A final note to the readers:
If I have helped you in any way, and you wish to say thanks, then please feed a stray animal at least once in your lifetime.

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Thanks for your patience!